Monday, September 8, 2014

Valentino.

Tues. 03/04/2014.











In what might be considered Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli's Most Intellectually Brilliant effort for the House of Valentino, Fall 2014 didn't make any sense until you were more than Halfway through it and then all the Tendrils and Threads Pulled together and the Magnificent Whole finally made sense. How things Interconnected to one another and how the Duo Referenced back to pieces from earlier in the collection in the latter half of the show. It was truly, Quite Marvellous!

To say that there was a 60's Feeling in a Valentino show is like saying there was Tweed in a Chanel Show. Maria and Pier have set there feet FIRMLY, For Good or Bad in the Mod Decade. Why? Who can truly know, but it's their comfort zone and proves and endless Bounty of ideas. Here it was the Poptical Art of the era that was the starting point. Spots of all shapes and sizes and Seizure inducing colourations started off the show. White, Blinding Fuschia, Black, Pink and Fruit Punch Red. Then in those Sick colour combinations of the 60's Olive, Tomato, Cocoa... all Optically bound together in Unholy Matrimony! 

But, It worked! Another aspect that worked like Magic, even though we Love our Valentino Wantonly Embellished to the most Nightmarishly difficult degree... what really worked here was the pieces that were Dead Simple and relied only on the most Breathtaking Cut and Seam that only Val's Roman Atelier can produce. So yes, for every ACHINGLY Exquisite Embroidered Confection the duo can produce, when they apply the Principles of simple Tailleur and Flou, The results an actually be more Heart Stopping! 

Don't Believe... Look at the section early in the Show of Heavy, Yet Limpid Jersey pieces with no Embellishment at all and with Elasticized cinched waists in Moss Green, Rose Pink and Nuit Gris... Devastating! The same could also be said for a Haunting Dream of a Gown in Gris Ombre Mousseline on Julia Nobis that moved with Regal Gravitas and was Magisterial in it's subtle Grace! It was one of those Gowns that gave you CHILLS! 

But... C'Mon! You KNOW you come to Maria Grazia and Pier Paolo for Freaking OUTRAGEOUS Embroideries! We all look to this collection for Mind Blowing Craftwork. Here, The Val Duo played some tricks with Prints and Metallic Brocades that Looked like Embroidery but were Printing and Weaving Techniques and the opposite, things that looked like Prints or Brocades were actually Embroidery and Applique... it was Dizzying on the most Delicious Level!

A couple Major points, the Butterflies, which popped up everywhere and were a Holdover from Pre-Fall, Might have just become a Signature print for the house, and the Noah-Like Animal Menagerie Print that was Quirky and Beautiful! These were Standouts in a field of Incredibly Gorgeous Prints and Embroideries.

The Finale offered us Too, Too Many stunners to in any way make comment as to which ones were the biggest standouts... they were all Equally Splendiferous! One could only pick by saying which one moved them more emotionally, for me that would be the Dark Chartreuse Gown on Malaika Firth and the Aurora Grey one on Nastya Sten!

Maria And Pier seem to be on an Unstoppable Trajectory of Magnificence. Each new collection is not a rewriting of their ideas, it's a Gentle continuation of a Dialogue, that each season unearths new Topics and Subjects to riff on. They Continue to Advance the Conversation but never lose the Main focus of the Colloquy. Their Collections are Ever Evolving, But maintain the thread of Similarity that immediately Identifies a Valentino Piece as Such! It's Daring and It's not the Way Modern Fashion would have us believe things ought to work, But considering what house the Duo are designing for. It Makes Perfect Sense. It's The Valentino (as in Garavani) Way!










That's All.










Bye4Now!


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